Problems getting an automatic door to close in a deep litter coop

[mpemburn]

Hi All!

We recently purchased a deluxe coop from a company in Lancaster, PA. One of the features I was most excited about was the SmartCoop automatic door. When we kept chickens some years ago in a coop I built, it was a challenge to make sure that the roost box door was closed on Winter evenings, and opened again in the morning—especially if we had to go away overnight and ask a neighbor to do this for us.

So, now that the door is in use, we discovered one snag: our roost box is set up with deep litter, and the chickens kick it around a bunch, as we expected they would. This includes kicking it onto the sill of the door and, when it comes down in the evening, it hits the litter and goes back up. This means having to go out and close the manual door and open it in the morning, defeating the entire purpose of this expensive option!

I tried remedying this by adding a lip to the inside of the door frame, but it’s not tall enough to thwart those high-kickin’ birds from clogging up the sill. The other thing I tried was to set the sensitivity a bit lower (from 500 to 600–opposite of what you’d think) so that it takes greater resistance for the door to decide that it needs to retract.

I’m sure we’re not the only ones ever to use an automatic door and deep litter, so I’d appreciate any suggestions you might have.

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC. Can you post some pictures of it?

 

[mpemburn]

Welcome to BYC. Can you post some pictures of it?

Sure—here’s an overview of the door, and a closeup of the sill.

Edited: Not sure why they uploaded sideways, but I can’t seem to fix this. The top is to the left.

 

[spartacus_63]

Can you adjust the sensitivity switch to zero, or shut it off? Or can the travel distance on the door be adjusted?

 

[mpemburn]

Can you adjust the sensitivity switch to zero, or shut it off? Or can the travel distance on the door be adjusted?

Well, I can adjust it to its minimum (1,500), but the point of the switch is to prevent chopping your chickens in half if they choose to pause in the doorway while it’s coming down.

 

[RojoMarz]

How tall is the inside lip? Would making it taller help, maybe a 1x4 or 2x4, with the 4"used to block the litter from the door opening? I also get litter in the bottom groove of our pop door (Ador) track, but it doesn't interfere with the shutting.

 

[mpemburn]

While I’m inclined to coming up with Rube Goldberg solutions to problems—like a compressed air jet triggered by the start of the door’s descent, or a sweeping brush similarly actuated—my sweetheart came up with something that I’m going to try: a sloping board that will dump any chips out in to the yard. The door should still be able to seat on it at the bottom of its travel. I’ll experiment with it tomorrow, and let you know how it works out.

 

[spartacus_63]

Well, I can adjust it to its minimum (1,500), but the point of the switch is to prevent chopping your chickens in half if they choose to pause in the doorway while it’s coming down.

I understand what the mechanism is for, but it isn't very effective if it doesn't allow the door to close with such a small amount of residue. I have a door that closes similar to the one in question and it doesn't have a safety stop mechanism and I have yet to cut a chicken in half and it has been in operation for more than a decade.

Good luck with your dilema.

 

[mpemburn]

I understand what the mechanism is for, but it isn't very effective if it doesn't allow the door to close with such a small amount of residue. I have a door that closes similar to the one in question and it doesn't have a safety stop mechanism and I have yet to cut a chicken in half and it has been in operation for more than a decade.

Good luck with your dilema.

Thanks! It’s hearting to know that all of your chickens have remained intact. The manufacturers are probably just erring on the side of caution.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If you add a board that won't allow the door to complete full travel. The reason ADOR doors work is the bottom of door is slotted allowing for bedding to push through. This door has a flat bottom.

It's a bit more involved but a sure fire remedy will be to cut the metal bottom of door out completely and allow for a gap. I'd not want 1/2 inch gap but think you need 1/4 inch to stop the problem. The wood below the door may already be close enough, if not cut it to fit a wood board as bottom sill that allows for a small gap bottom of door.